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Warm House

To see what ancient houses looked like, visit our Goguryeo House, which has an amazing floor heating system called jjokgudeul that ancient people used to keep warm. Learn more about how houses have changed over time by checking out kitchen utensils, furniture, and other household items, and by enjoying hands-on activities with house-building tools and Korean oof tiles called giwa.

A prehistoric dwelling

Earthen House

Geukrackjeon in Bongjeongsa

Characteristics

Learn about the houses that people of the past used to live in.

Background

Just like people today, the people of the past needed houses to live in for warmth and protection.
By looking at the houses of the past, we can learn more about the people and
families who lived there, as well as their villages and society. To understand the lives of
our ancestors, we must study the structure and function of their homes. To answer our
questions about the past, archaeologists have excavated sites where people used to live, and
they have made many exciting discoveries, such as houses that were burned down or
abandoned, ditches and fences for protecting houses, and villages consisting of many
houses. Also, paintings and records from the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties show and
describe houses with thatched roofs and tile roofs, telling us more about how people lived
at that time. Here, you can look at a recreation of a dugout hut from the sites in
Songguk-ri, as well as a Goguryeo-style house that was modeled after a piece of pottery
shaped like a house. This area also includes many other activities related to houses, like a
game to connect roof tiles. So let’s compare the houses of the past with the houses of the
present, and try to understand how the styles of houses have changed through history.